End of the world? It appears not

Thousands of people around the world have been anxiously wondering whether the end of a 5,126-year cycle of the Mayan "Long Count" calendar would mark the apocalypse.

But the predicted time of the world's end - 11.11am - came and went without any significant reports of widespread doom.

Events had been organised across the planet for people to either gather for the oncoming Armageddon or to celebrate together the continuance of the human race. Many were drawn to locations where it is believed they have a chance of surviving the apocalypse.

The most prominent of these was a mountain in the French Pyrenees where a giant UFO and aliens were said to be waiting to spirit those nearby to safety.

But the area around the village of Bugarach was reported quiet at 11.11am, apart from those who had flocked there for the event.

In Moscow, former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's underground bunker was offering salvation from the world's end for 1,500 dollars (£920), with a 50% refund if nothing happened. The bunker, 210ft below ground, was designed to withstand a nuclear attack and all 1,000 tickets were sold.

And in Serbia, the pyramid-shaped peak, Mount Rtanj, drew cultists as a local legend has it that the mountain once swallowed an evil sorcerer who will be released on doomsday in a ball of fire.

The inside of the mountain would then become a safe place to hide as the sorcerer goes on to destroy the rest of the world.

The World's End pub in Pudsey, Leeds, said it had not made any special plans to mark the event. A member of staff said: "There wouldn't be much point if the world was going to end."